Constiutcting ibon ships



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.. i'

OTIS TUFTS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.`

CONSTRUCTING IRON SHIPS.

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 13,278, dated July 17, 1855.

To all lwhom 'it may concern:

Be itknown that I, Oris TUrTs, of Boston, in the county of Suolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful mode of building or constructing either the hulls or decks, or both, as the case may require, of ships, boats, and various other sailing and floating vessels made. of iron or other suit-able metal or metals; and I do hereby declare the nature of my invention and the manner in which the same is t0 be performed are particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed and to the figures and letters marked therein-that is to say- The nature of my invention consists in constructing the hull and deck or decks, or the hull, or the deck or decks, or a naviga ble or floating vessel of two shells, vessels, or cases or casings made of thin sheets of iron riveted or yotherwise confined together at or near their respective edges in Contact, and placing the one of the said cases or vessels within and at a short distance apart from and parallel or nearly parallel to the other and connecting and confining both together in their respective and proper positions with respect to each other, by means of various mechanical contrivances such as I shall hereinafter describe or such of similar nature as may be successfully substituted therefor whereby I am enabled to make the several casings and their connections, when together, constitute as it were, a system of truss work and to do away with the framing of ribs, such as is generally employed in the construction of iron vessels for navigation, and in lieu thereof provide a substitute, viz., the inner iron case and the connections of the samee applied to it and the outer case, which shall render the vessel very -much stronger in longitudinal, as well as generally speaking in all other directions, safer, more rigid and capable or enduring to greater advantage and extent the shocks usually experienced by sea going vessels, and better adapted for the stowage of cargo than when constructed of a framing of iron ribs or other frames covered externally with an iron sheathing or case connected to the said frames or ribs by rivets in the manner heretofore commonly practiced by builders of iron ships.

. Of the drawings above mentioned Figure 1, represents a midship and vertical section of an iron vessel constructed according to my improved manner. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of that port-ion of the vessel which is just or a short distance in front of the rudder. Fig. 3 is a top view of one of the shoulder blocks to be hereinafter described. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the said shoulder block. Fig. 5 exhibits a section of a portion of the two casings, and four of the shoulder blocks and the riveted bolts passing through the same. Fig. 6 represents a side elevation of another kind of connection, or substitute for the shoulder block before mentioned, Fig. 7 being a top view of it, and Fig. 8 exhibiting its position between and as confined to the plat-es or casings or cases. Figs. 10, 11, and 12, exhibit a third mode of connecting the outer and inner plates or cases or casings of the vessel, Fig. 10 being a side elevation, Fig. 11 a plan view and Fig. 12 a section of a portion of the plates or cases and three of the connections in their relative positions between the same. Figs. 13,

14 and 15, are elevations of three other connections, while Figs. 16, 17 and 18 exhibit their positions within or between the inner and outer cases and the manner of riveting or confining them thereto. Fig. 19 denotes a vertical transverse section of a portion of a deck composed partly of wood and iron. Fig. 20 is a top view. Fig. 22 is a side elevation and Fig. 21 a vertical section of a cast iron knee which may be placed at the angle of junction of the deck and side of the hull of an iron vessel when built with shoulder blo-cks and bolts as aforesaid. Fig. 28 is a top View, Fig. 24 a side elevation, and Fig. 25 is a vertical section of another knee espe cially adapted to the angle at the lower part of the hull and just above the keel, when the shoulder olock and bolts are employed in the construction of the vessel. Fig. 26, is a View of a portion of the exterior case of the vessel exhibiting a mode of connecting together the plates of iron of which the said case is composed, as also the positions of the connections which intervene between the inner and outer cases. Fig. 27 shows a mode of lapping and securing the ends of the iron plates of the hull to each other; and Fig. 28, is an external view of a portion of t-he outer case upon which the respective positions of the shoulder blocks in rear of it, or between it and the inner case are represented by dotted lines.

In Fig. 1, a and Z) denote the two cases, vessels or casings, made of thin sheets of iron riveted or otherwise properly fastened together at their edges. The one is placed within the other or at a short distance from it, as seen in the drawing, and is connected to it by pieces &c., of thin bar iron bentinto the various shapes represented in Figs. 6, 10, 13 and 14 and combined together or placed with respect to each other and between the inner and outer cases a, Z), and confined to the cases by rivets y, y, as exhibited in Figs. 1, 2, 8, 12, 16, 17 and 18.

In lieu of the aforesaid connections I sometimes employ a series of shoulder blocks, c, c, c, &c., and bolts, (Z, (Z, (Z, &c., the said shoulder blocks being cylindrical or other proper shaped pieces of cast or wrought iro-n, each having a hole or passage through its center and in line of its axis, through which (hole) and the inner and outer cases CZ, Z9, a bolt Z is passed (when the said block is inserted in its place between the cases) and riveted down so as to confine the said block and cases firmly together. The said shoulder blocks should b-e distributed throughout the entire space between the inner and outer cases of the hull or the hull and deck or decks and at such distances apart from each other as may be deemed necessary to insure sufficient strength to the structure when completed.

I make use of any o1` all of the aforesaid connections or modes of securing the inner 35 and outer casings together and upon one another as circumstances permit or render convenient or advisable and I arrange them in such number and positions with respect to each other as may be necessary to insure a proper degree of strength to the vessel when completed.

In Fig. l of the drawings the inner and outer cases are represented as confined together by vario-us of the above mentioned mechanical connections, some of the same which are in rear of those through which the section is made, being also delineated. Vhen the shoulder blocks and bolts are adopted they may be arranged with regard to each other as denoted by dotted lines at c, c, c, &c., in Fig. 28; and when pieces of bent bar iron are employed they may be disposed if deemed advisable in lines parallel to each other as seen at e e e, Fig. 26, wherein the same are represented in dotted lines. Zhen the vertical ends of two sheets of iron are to be connected a mode may be adopted which is represented in Fig. Q7, which denotes a horizontal section of the edges of the two sheets and one of the rivets z'. The vertical end of the sheet g is bent into the shape as exhibited in the figure and receives the sheet ZL in such manner that the two front faces of the two sheets may be in one and the same plane. The rivet z' is passed through the sheets and riveted down upon the outer side of the sheet h, its head being shown at 7c. When the plates or sheets of iron are so connected at their vertical edges and the planes of their front faces make part of the exterior surface of the hull of the vessel, the vertical edges of the plates thus present no obst-ruction to the ships way. Another object of ther aforesaid mode of connecting the vertical edges of the sheets of iron is to dispense wit-h splicing plates as generally adopted and at the same time to enable a workman to calk the vessel entirely upon the outside thereof.

Vhenever it may be desirable to construct the deck or decks of an iron vessel built on my improved plan of wood the deck beams (one of which is represented at 7c in Fig. 19) may extend across the vessel and receive the deck planks Z, Z, &c., upon them in the usual manner and be bolted or fastened by nails, screws or other proper contrivances to a sheathing m, of plate ironv which may eX- tend entirely or partially over the whole under surface of the deck and be connected to the inner case of the hull or to the outer case thereof or to both thereof. Some of the objects ,of so making a deck are to give to it a great power of resisting horizontal or other strains; to protect it from fire within the hold; to prevent water from leaking through it and into the hold or upon the cargo therein. Besides, it o-Hers a new and very perfect mode of uniting a wooden deck to an iron hull and dispenses with the common metallic boxes in which the ends of the beams are inserted and sustained when a wooden deck is employed in an iron vessel.

In Figs. 29 and 30, I have given a mode of attaching an iron bulk head to the inner case of the vessel the former figure being a horizontal section of the end of the bulkhead and a. portion of the inner case; m, being the bulk head and Z), the case. Fig. 30 may be supposed to indicate a vertical section of a portion of the inner case and the bulk head as secured to it. The mode of securing them together is by means of a piece n of what is termed angle iron, which is placed at the angle of junction of the inner case and the bulk head and riveted to them respectively as the construction of the vessel progresses.

I claim- Constructing the hull, decks, and bulkheads of ships, with a double shell of iron, interfast-ened for greatest strength, with binders, substantially as described.

OTIS TUFTS.

ritnesses R. H. EDDY, GEO. BAILEY. 

